Dave Clawson stepping down at Wake Forest: Demon Deacons coach led team to seven bowl games across 11 seasons

Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson is stepping down from his position, the school announced on Monday. Clawson, 57, will remain with the university as a special advisor to athletic director John Currie, Wake Forest announced.

“Coaching at Wake Forest has been the honor of my career,” Clawson said in a statement. “This is a special place with extraordinary people, and I am deeply grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the last 11 years. Together, we achieved things that many thought impossible, and I step down knowing I gave everything I had for this program and University. I want to thank our players, coaches and staff for their unwavering support and dedication since my arrival to help build a sustainable winning program. 

“With that, I am so grateful for our student body, fans and so many special Wake Foresters who invested their time, efforts and money into helping us win. While this chapter is ending, my pride in what we’ve built here will never fade. After completing my 25th season as a head coach and 36th-straight in college football, the timing is right for me and my family to step away into this new role within Wake Forest University.”

Clawson’s decision comes after consecutive 4-8 campaigns. The Demon Deacons also won a combined three ACC games over the last two years and did not finish better than 14th in the ACC standings. It was their worst two-year span under Clawson since 2014-15, his first two seasons with the program. 

Wake Forest’s 4-8 showing in 2023 also broke a streak of six consecutive full seasons with a winning record. The Demon Deacons were 4-5 during a COVID-shortened 2020 season, though three of those wins came in ACC play and they still qualified for a bowl game. 

Clawson guided Wake Forest to seven straight bowls from 2016-22, the longest such streak in program history. Wake Forest also made just its second ACC Championship Game appearance in program history in 2021. Clawson was named the 2021 ACC Coach of the Year after guiding the Demon Deacons to their second 11-win season in program history. 

He leaves his post with a 67-69 overall record and a 32-55 showing in ACC play. Clawson also went 5-2 in bowl games. Prior to his appointment at Wake Forest, Clawson spent five seasons as the coach at Bowling Green from 2009-13. He also served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator in 2008 and had head-coaching stints at Fordham (1999-2003) and Richmond (2004-07). 

Wake Forest might need to go fast 

Clawson’s decision comes at an interesting time on the college football calendar as the winter transfer window is currently open. This is the time of year where schools are most active in terms of adding new talent, which means that player movement is abundant. 

It also means that Wake Forest probably wants to go very fast with the ensuing coaching search. The winter window closes on Dec. 28, which means that whoever succeeds Clawson will have less than two weeks to evaluate the available talent and decide what the roster needs to fit his vision. 

Clawson’s replacement will also be tasked with retaining the players that they choose to hold on to. Starting Tuesday, a 30-day window opens that will allow Wake Forest players to transfer at any point due to the coaching change, even past the Dec. 28 cutoff date for standard winter transfers. 

Drastic change in North Carolina

Though the overall coaching carousel hasn’t been as wild as many predicted entering the season, it has been quite a rollercoaster for the state of North Carolina. With Clawson’s decision to step down, that means five of the seven FBS schools in the Tar Heel State will enter the 2024 season with new coaches. 

As things stand, NC State’s Dave Doeren and Duke’s Manny Diaz are the only North Carolina coaches that will be retained, and Diaz just wrapped his first season with the Blue Devils. The University of North Carolina made the biggest splash thus far by hiring NFL legend Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown, who was fired six years into his second stint with the Tar Heels. 

Of the four new hires thus far, Albin is the only one with full-time collegiate head coaching experience. He left Ohio after three consecutive 10-win seasons and a 2024 Mid-American Conference championship. 

Harrell did serve as East Carolina’s interim coach following Houston’s midseason firing and went 4-1 while leading the Pirates.